Despite the widely recognized toll of tobacco and increasing action to curb tobacco use (e.g., increased excise taxes, smoking bans), smoking continues. Numerous messages about tobacco, smoking, and health circulate throughout society, but in spite of the prevalence of such messages and the importance of how they are constructed and interpreted, too little communication research has been dedicated to understanding and assessing tobacco-related messages. Talking Tobacco addresses the shortcoming. Featuring the work of top communication scholars, the volume advances theoretical knowledge, reviews state-of-the-art research, and shares new findings and insights on a variety of tobacco-related areas ranging from tobacco control efforts to corporate representations.

Contents: Joy L. Hart/Stuart L. Esrock/Kandi L. Walker: What's All the Talk About? Communication Perspectives on Tobacco Issues - Meghan Bridgid Moran/Steve Sussman: Social Identity and Antismoking Campaigns: How Who Teenagers Are Affects What They Do and What We Can Do About It - Kelly Mella: A Complicated Conversation: Tobacco Use and Misuse in Native American Communities - Joshua Hillyer/Mary Helen Brown: Smoking Cessation as a Relationship: A Narrative Analysis of Internet Discussions on Tobacco Use and Smoking Cessation - Tamar Ginossar: «In a Group of Our Own»: Talking about Tobacco-Related Stigma in Internet Lung Cancer Support Groups - Edward Panetta/Ryan Galloway/Donald L. Rubin: Blowing Smoke: The Flawed Process of the Tobacco Industry's «Junk Science» Discourse - Richard D. Waters: With Health Warnings Looming, Is a Lasting Relationship Possible? Testing the Organization-Public Relationship Model with the Tobacco Industry - Cornelius B. Pratt: The U.S. Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, 2009: Ethical Implications for Big Tobacco's Strategic Communication - Terry L. Rentner: Classroom and Client Collaboration: An Effective Tobacco Reduction Campaign Developed by Students for Students - Mediated - Bruce E. Pinkleton/Erica Weintraub Austin: Young People's Attitudes and Decision Making Concerning Tobacco and Tobacco-Use-Prevention Advertising - Benjamin R. Bates/Margaret M. Quinlan/Brian L. Quick: Claiming a Right to Clean, Breathable Air: A Content Analysis of Newspaper Coverage of the Comprehensive Clean Indoor Air Debate in Ohio - David B. Buller/Walter F. (Snip) Young/Erwin P. Bettinghaus/Julie A. Maloy/Peter A. Andersen/Ron Borland/Joseph B. Walther: Tobacco Control Partners: A Website Providing Online Technical Assistance to Local Tobacco Control Coalitions - Hyunmin Lee/Youjin Choi: Antismoking Videos on a User-Created Content (UCC) Website: A Comparative Analysis of Persuasive Attributes - Conclusion - Kevin B. Wright: Tobacco Messages: Much to Still Talk About.

Stuart L. Esrock (PhD, Bowling Green State University) is Associate Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Louisville. His research focuses on tobacco issues, strategic communication campaigns, and digital technologies.

Kandi L. Walker (PhD, University of Denver) is Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Louisville. Her research explores the intersection between health, culture, and interpersonal communication.

Joy L. Hart (PhD, University of Kentucky) is Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Louisville. She teaches courses and conducts research on organizational and health communication.